Mancini 7-4 to win a trophy

MARK Hughes’ sacking as Manchester City boss came out of the blue and his successor, Roberto Mancini, will certainly need to get more out of Emmanuel Adebayor and Robinho if he is to achieve his goal of a top-four finish.

A trophy of some sort this season would not go amiss, but the bookies reckon City, who face bitter rivals United in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup, will finish empty-handed once again.

They go 2-5 about that scenario and 7-4 about City winning any domestic trophy.


TALKING of the managerial merry-go-round, don’t be surprised if another high-profile boss loses his job over Christmas.

Bet 365 are offering only 11-4 that a Premier League boss will be handed the wrong kind of Christmas sack, those firmly in the firing line including Bolton’s Gary Megson, West Ham’s Gianfranco Zola and Hull’s Phil Brown.

And what about Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez?

He is under severe pressure and can be backed at 7-1 to be the next casualty.